Acleda Bank’s foreign operations in Laos and Myanmar performed well during the first quarter of 2017 while recording strong net profits last year, leading the bank to seek further regional expansion, according to a senior executive.

Acleda has 41 commercial branches in Laos and six MFI locations in Myanmar. The bank expanded to Laos in 2008 followed by Myanmar in 2013.

So Phonnary, vice president of Acleda Bank, said that outstanding loan amounts in Laos increased by 17 percent by the end of the first quarter, growing from $104 million to $123 million. The MFI loan portfolio in Myanmar nearly doubled from $8.5 million to $15.7 million during the same period.

“Acleda’s operations in Laos and Myanmar remained positive last year and in 2017 we will continue to expand,” she said. “Net profits in 2016 for Laos reached $4.11 million while in Myanmar they were $1.1 million.”

According to Phonnary, Laos’ financial sector is highly competitive and Acleda is pitted against more than 42 private and state-owned commercial banks as well as 142 MFIs. However, she said that the operations have primarily been driven by commercial lending across all 18 Lao provinces.

Meanwhile, the bank’s MFI operations in Myanmar have placed Acleda as market leader among the competition of 169 total licensed providers as of the end of March.